Trust Me
by sirena1
Summary: AU fic, my first, so be nice. Buffy and Angel are both skaters. Buffy has a problem with trusting men after her partner was hired to kill her. Can Angel make her trust him and lead them both to their dreams?
1. Setting the stage

Okay, this is my first AU fic and I really hope it turned out okay. I had some problems in spots, and if you can tell, let me know how it can be fixed. Read and the review! All reviews, even flames are appreciated, read, and taken into consideration for future chapters, or stories that I may write.

Title: Trust Me

Disclaimer: I do not own, or profit from the characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel. If I did, they wouldn't be apart. Angel would be human, and in Sunnydale with Buffy where he belongs.

Rating: Pg-13 to R, depending on which part of the story you're reading. R for a sexual scene.

Summary: Buffy and Angel are both skaters, Buffy has a problem learning to trust after a skating accident took her out of skating doubles. Can Angel help her trust again?

Dedication: To Jill and Michelle, your sites keep my inspiration flowing. Go to never-ending-love.de for some great stories, then to the links page, and click on the link to Michelle's page for some more great stories. I can't get enough of them!

Buffy Summers walked across campus quickly, leery of being late to her final class of the day, Contemporary Photography. Buffy was a freshman at Cornell University in New York studying Photography as her major. Her minor was Creative Writing. She was also a professional ice skater. Her coach, and step father, Rupert Giles, had been the one who had convinced her to pursue a degree before returning to skating full time. She still had four three hour practices a week and competed in some major events.

"So very glad you could join us Miss Summers. Please take your seat and hand in your photos." Professor Jackson said as Buffy entered the classroom five minutes late. Buffy sank into her seat and passed up the three photos she had been assigned to take at the local pound. 'Today, class, we will be getting new assignments. I have been informed that this year's National Ice Skating Tournament is being held at the arena in New York City. Our very own Buffy Summers is competing. You will each be given an ice skater and I want three professional shots of their routines, and four candids. Miss Summers, since you are competing, it should be easy enough for you to get some shots of work outs and practices. Your skater is a Mister Liam Angelus Deveraux."

Buffy gulped. Out of the fifty skaters in the competition, she had to be assigned the one who hated her. From the smile on Professor Jackson's face, she guessed he was well aware of their history together.

Buffy had been fourteen when she had met Liam, him being seventeen at the time. They were paired up to skate a short pairs competition at a local benefit. All had started well. They had gotten along fine, practices were going great, the talent of both made their team an unstoppable one, and then tragedy had struck. Buffy's deranged father, Hank Summers, who had abandoned she and her mother when Buffy was five, came to one of the benefits at which Liam and she had been scheduled to skate. He had seen them and gone crazy, attempting to kill both of them. The cause had been a severe combative personality and schizophrenia , but the media, and Liam's coach, Darla Walters, had convinced him that she had hired Hank to kill him. They'd never talked since. Just thinking of being forced to spend time listening to him publicly humiliate her made her want to throw up.

"Angel, come over here!" Darla Walters instructed her trainee, Liam Deveraux, who preferred to call himself Angel.

"What now? That was going good."

"Your quad was shaky on the landing. Try and keep your body forward on the landing for balance."

"Darla, it's six o'clock in the morning, how good am I supposed to be when you dragged me out of bed less that twenty minutes ago?" Angel argued, raking his fingers through his dark brown hair.

"I need you to be great for the competition tomorrow. Oh, and I already had Buffy Summers put on your No Access list."

Angel sighed. Darla always did that. "Why did you do that?"

"Angel, she had a man hired to kill you five years ago, she can do it again. In any case, I don't want her near you. I don't trust her."

"What's she skating?"

"Professional Women's Single. Not that it concerns you."

"Why doesn't she skate doubles anymore?"

"If you must know, two years ago, her partner, Parker Abrams, dropped her during a performance. Apparently, he'd been paid off to hurt her pretty badly, and he did. She was out of commission an entire season, and just hasn't ever gone back to skating with anybody else."

"What happened to her?"

"Like I said, he dropped her, but he obviously threw her into a wall and she got a severe concussion from hitting her head on the ice. He cut her open with the blade on his skate too."

"And why didn't I see this on the news?"

"You were in Ireland at the time and it slipped my mind. Besides, you don't need to care about her. She's a selfish little bitch who doesn't deserve the time of day if you ask me."

"Then it's a good thing I didn't ask you." Angel said, skating back out onto the ice to begin his performance again.

Tuesday morning, six hours before the women's single skate began at two, Buffy took the ice for a practice. She saw Giles cue her music and she took her opening position. Neither she, or Giles saw Angel enter the stands and sit down to watch her practice. He was scheduled to practice after her, and had decided to go watch. She began with a large circle around the rink and then a triple loop jump. Her landing was perfect and set her up for her series of dance moves. Angel's eyes followed her every move, memorizing and admiring her perfect technique. After the dance move came her quadruple axle, triple toe combination. After she completed that, she went into a camel, and then did a triple-double salchow move.

Buffy felt free when she was skating. She could block out the entire world and then there was just her, the music, and the ice. She set herself up for a combination spin, and executed it with only a small wobble at the end. Cursing the wobble, she moved on to her double axle, double toe combination. After that came her quadruple-quadruple loop move. It was the second hardest jump in her whole show. After several easier jumps and another combination spin, she ended her performance with a quadruple axle, quadruple toe, triple loop combination. After that she took her ending pose and a second later that music ended.

"Let's run it again. The next to last combo spin was off. I almost fell." She called to Giles, never noticing another figure skate onto the ice at the corner of the rink. As she did her circle, Angel lined himself up with her for the triple loop. She skated by and he joined her for the side by side triples. Buffy was caught completely off guard when she felt a very strong pair of masculine arms encircle her waist and lead her into the series of intricate footwork. But she soon found that she didn't mind. Angel took her hand and spun her away so they were perfectly in sync for the quad axle, camel, triple-double salchow sequence. After that, Angel carefully led her back into his arms for a lift, completely making up the routine as they went along. He felt her stiffen as he began to lift her and sighed.

"Trust me. I won't hurt you." He whispered, tightening his arms around her ever so slightly. She nodded slightly and let him lift her up. She stiffened again as he brought her closer to his body, but relaxed when he let her slide back down slowly. He wasn't going to try a throw. They parted again to begin the next sequence of jumps and spins and then came back together for some more footwork, this time they were face to face and it was more like a dance. Giles was watching very interestedly. Then the end of the song began approaching. They did the quad-quad-triple sequence and then Angel brought her back into an inside edge death spin. After they completed that, he let one of her hands go and brought her around to his right side. They glided to an elegant stop.

"Wow." Buffy whispered, turning to look at her partner. When she saw Angel she pulled away and started to skate out of the rink.

"What's wrong?" Angel asked, catching up to her quickly. When she didn't answer, he grabbed her hand and whirled her around. "Did you hear me?"

"Of course I heard you. Now, what the hell was the purpose of that?"

"Honestly? I have no idea. It was amazing wasn't it?"

"Amazing isn't the word I would use. Are you trying to rattle me so I can't perform this afternoon? Or do you just get some sort of sick pleasure out of humiliating me?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Everyone, including me, knows how much you hate me. I was fine with that. We didn't have to talk, interact or anything and then you come to watch me, and I was okay with that too. But when you invaded my ice and my routine, that's pushing it too far. And you, along with everyone else know that I can't skate pairs. I just can't. And seeing as how you know that, there are only two reasonable reasons why you just skated with me. One, you want to rattle me so I'll do something stupid later today at the competition, or two, you get some sort of sick pleasure out of humiliating me."

"Why do you think I want to humiliate you?"

"Because you're the best skater in the world! And I'm just me and you can pairs skate better than you can singles skate and I suck at it."

"You don't suck at it. But, if you want, I'll never skate with you again. And I wasn't trying to rattle or humiliate you." Angel said softly.

"Look, Liam,"

"Please, call me Angel."

"Angel, huh? Anyway, I know you hate me because of what happened and I've completely excepted that. I'm fine with that. But, don't expect me to be falling at your feet."

"I don't hate you, Miss Summers. In fact, I find you quite fascinating."

Buffy looked surprised. "Be that as it may, I don't think your coach would appreciate you sharing the ice with a wimpy, no good bitch, as she so often described me. Good day. Oh, and I wouldn't be too anxious to get on the ice with me. I'm not very good." Buffy said, turning to skate off the ice. She pulled off her skates and walked back into her warm up room. She heard Angel follow her.

"Why do you say that?" he wanted to know, following her into the dressing room.

"Were you invited?"

"Ask me if I care. Why do you think you're so bad? Cause I've got news for you, Buff, you're good."

"Thank you, but you don't have to lie to make me feel better."

"Who said I was lying? I don't lie. Darla does that enough for the both of us. Besides, I think you're very good. You're just scared."

"Scared am I? Well, let me give it to you straight. My partner two years ago was hired to beat me up off the ice. I was never with him in private, so he decided to do it on the ice. Shattered my tailbone when he dropped me, gave me a concussion when he threw me into the wall, and sliced my face open with the blade on his skate. Take away all the makeup and clever lighting tricks and you can still see the scar. You try having all that happen to you and we'll see how interested in going back out there and having to have complete trust in your partner you are." Buffy said, anger coloring her voice.

"I didn't do that to you." Angel pointed out. "So I don't see the big deal. No one's asking you to go back out there with Parker. I'm asking you to go out there with me."

"I can't Angel. You don't understand. Look." Buffy demanded, picking up a washcloth and scrubbing her face violently. She laid it down and walked over. Sure enough he could see a very defined scar running from just under her left eye clear down to her chin in an arc. "He did that to me. And you already hate me. How am I supposed to trust you knowing that? My father tried to kill you. How do I know you aren't trying to return the favor?"

Angel grabbed Buffy by the shoulders. "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't hate you? Yeah, your father tried to kill me, but you were the one who dove in front of the bullet and ended up in the hospital. Buffy, I don't hate you. I want to help you. You have a fear of skating with someone, but I think you're more afraid to trust someone. I can understand that, but you have to give people a chance. Not everyone is going to hurt you. Especially not me."

Buffy felt tears starting to well in her eyes. "I want to believe you. Really I do. But look at me Angel. I'm a wreck. I'm scarred and hurt and ugly and scared. And I've learned to deal with that. But you're standing here and you're asking me to do something I don't think I can do. And I may be willing to try, but if you turn out to be anything like Parker, then I swear I will carve out your heart with a dull knife."

"Put on your skates and let's go. I have the ice booked until eleven."

Buffy walked out onto the ice and took a deep breath. She looked over at Angel and he smiled at her. "Giles, can you put on my long program piece?" she called to her coach. Giles nodded and a few seconds later the music came on. "Don't drop me." She warned, placing her hand in Angel's.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Angel assured her, smiling at the fierce look in her eyes.

Angel led the whole program. He did several series' of quad-triple jumps and then he brought her back to be pressed against his chest for some intricate footwork. She matched step with him at every turn, surprising herself at her talent for pairs skating.

"Scratch spin, double lutz, quint axle." Angel whispered in her ear, deciding on the next move.

"Quint?" Buffy asked in surprise.

"Can you do it?"

"I can try." Buffy assured him, letting go to do the scratch spin. After that came the simple double lutz and the complicated, never done in competition, quint-five spin axle. Angel managed it fine, but Buffy, having never tried the jump, wobbled and nearly fell on the landing. She pushed off faster than normal to catch up, then slowed back down to match pace with Angel. Automatically her hand slid into his and he brought her in front of him and lifted her over his head while he spun in a wide circle. He brought her close to his chest and lowered her down to line up for a throw. He tossed her, and she rotated in the air in a triple spin, before landing back down.

"Good job." Angel said, lifting her again. This time, she wrapped her legs around his waist and leaned back so her head was nearly skimming the ice. She slowly brought herself back up and let her legs drop, pushing herself out so they wouldn't get tangled up. Angel looked her in the eye and began lowering her even farther so he could skate over her. She glided between his legs and stood so her back was pressed against his. Very slowly she ducked down and came back through, letting him do another lift and her legs again found their way around his waist. But she moved behind him so she was again pressed to his back. She leaned back and his arms caught her as she leaned between his legs, lifting her back up and setting her back on the ice. After two more sequences of simpler jumps, they glided to a stop. "I thought you said you couldn't couples skate? How did you learn those maneuvers?"

Buffy sighed, and started to skate away. "I said I was bad, I never said I didn't know the moves. I pairs skated for a long time, did you think I didn't learn anything?"

"That's not what I meant. I didn't mean to insult you. I actually want to ask you something."

Buffy turned around to face him. "You want a favor?" she asked incredulously.

"Pretty much. I want you to skate with me in the competition. We still have time to register."

"No. I can't and I won't."

"Why?" Angel asked, following her. "It's just a competition. I'm not asking you to win, I'm asking you to skate with me."

"Ask someone else. Someone who can skate better than me."

"I would, but there is no one I would rather skate with. You're talented, beautiful and the crowd loves you. What more could I ask for in a partner?"

"Someone who isn't scared to death of skating pairs?" Buffy suggested, walking into her dressing room once again. And again, he followed. Without being invited.

"Minor detail. And I think it isn't skating with someone isn't the problem. I think your problem is being able to trust someone. You're afraid that everyone you trust is going to turn on you and you take out your fears in the form of the pairs skating phobia."

"Since when do you have a psychology degree?" Buffy asked sarcastically. "Now if you don't mind, I need to get dressed."

Angel shrugged, "I don't mind. Be my guest."

"That was your signal to leave. There isn't a separate room in here for me to change in."

"I'm not leaving until you agree to skate with me. And you aren't leaving either."

"And you're going to stop me?"

"Damn straight I am. I want you to skate with me Buffy, and people don't normally get to tell me no."

"Well then I'll make history. Angel, thank you for the offer, but there is no way in Hell that I am skating doubles with you. Now please leave."

Angel stubbornly shook his head. "I said no and I mean no."

"And I said no and I mean no. What's the difference?"

"I'm going to win my battle and you're going to lose yours. Please just give yourself a chance to be great. You have all this wonderful potential and I'd hate to see it go to waste. You're a great skater Buffy. Let everyone see how wonderful you really are."

"If people want to see me skate, they can watch my singles routine. I can't skate doubles. I get panic attacks and fall and everything else. I tried to skate with a partner after Parker nearly killed me and it just doesn't work. I can't do it."

"You just did. A few minutes ago, you were out there skating with me and loving it. You weren't scared and you were great."

"I was awful." Buffy contradicted, yanking her shirt over her head, no longer caring if he gaped or not. She turned her back and pulled her sports bra over her head too, exchanging it for a silky push up one. When she turned around Angel's jaw looked about ready to hit the floor. Mumbling something about men, she finished stripping out of her pants and got dressed. "Angel, it's nothing personal. If you had asked me to partner you three years ago, I would have been thrilled and jumped at the chance. But now, things are different, and I just don't think that I can stand falling on my ass in front of ten million people."

"Buffy, I know things have happened to you that I will probably never understand, and I can deal with that. But you have a talent for skating, alone, or with me, that I have never seen before. And I want you to reconsider skating with me. It would be a good experience for both of us. Please." 

Buffy felt herself relenting. "I'll give you two days. Starting tomorrow, because I have a competition later today. And if you can get a routine together, and make me comfortable with it, I will skate doubles with you. But if I'm shaky or uncomfortable, forget it."

"You've got yourself a deal Miss Summers." Angel said, "Are you busy for lunch?"

"No. But I really don't see myself going out to eat with you."

"And why not? Afraid it'll bring you bad publicity?"

"Exactly right."

"I don't give a damn about bad publicity. I know a great Chinese restaurant down town, would you like to go?"

"Why not? But if the press get wind of this, I'll tell them you kidnapped me."

"Brainwashed would be more believable. Come on, my car's out front. I'll drive." Angel said, offering his arm. Buffy reluctantly took it and let him lead her out to his car. She had yelled to Giles where she was going and he had said to make sure she was back by three for her warm up before the competition. She was supposed to go last. 

Buffy and Angel arrived at the China Palace nearly an hour later. Traffic had made the normally half hour trip into an hour trip. But the restaurant wasn't crowded, so that went a long way to making up for the aggravation. Angel chose a table, and the two sat down. Five minutes later a waitress came over to take their orders.

"And what can I get you two today?" she asked in a friendly voice.

"I'll have the mandarin chicken." Buffy said.

"Okay, and you sir?"

"Shrimp lo mein."

"Any egg rolls or anything?"

"No we're good. Just two cokes please."

"All right. Your food will be out in a few minutes." 

At five-thirty that afternoon, Buffy took the ice for her routine. Twenty minutes later, she accepted her medal for first-place. After that, she declined going to a party with all the other skaters and took a walk in Central Park. She was passing a newsstand when a tabloid caught her eye. She walked over and was very surprised to see her face on the front cover. She picked it up and read the headline. It read: Famed enemies Liam Deveraux and Buffy Summers having sordid love affair. Caught on date in downtown New York Chinese restaurant.

"Oh my God." Buffy breathed before flipping to the page the article was on. On it was a huge picture of her and Angel eating lunch together followed by a short article explaining that there had been rumors going around that the two of them were having an affair for years and the picture was the first hard evidence. It also claimed that the photographer had found them engaged in an erotic sexual embrace after the meal, but the pictures had been to explicit to publish.

Another magazine claimed that Buffy was pregnant with Angel's child and that they had eloped in Las Vegas several weeks before. The editor of the magazine had supposedly been a guest at the ceremony. Buffy bought a copy of each magazine and ran back to her hotel room. She got there and flipped on the TV. A show called Restricted Access was on and she soon saw that the show was about her and Angel.

"All of you viewers with young children in the room may want to cover their eyes for this next clip." The host said, a smile on his face. "This next scene is both rough and sexually explicit. And here we see Liam Angelus Deveraux and Buffy Anne Summers having rough, wild, animalistic sex in an alley in downtown New York this afternoon. Poor Buffy's back must be covered in scrapes, from the way he's got her pinned against this wall."

Disgusted, Buffy could only watch as the scene played. Even though it had never happened, they hadn't so much as held hands or anything, she marveled at the likeness of the woman who was supposedly her. Then, she burst into tears and threw the remote at the screen. She picked up the magazines and the tape the show had been recorded on and ran down the hall to the elevator. She took it up three floors and ran down to Angel's door.

Angel was in the shower when someone began frantically knocking on his door. He wrapped a towel around his waist and walked out of the bathroom to open the door. He saw Buffy, with tears streaking her face and felt his heart drop. 

"Buffy! What's wrong? What happened?" he asked frantically.

"Tabloids and TV shows." She muttered, walking over to his TV. She put the tape in his VCR, rewound it a little and pushed play. Angel watched in horror for a minute before he turned it off. She handed him the magazines, which he promptly threw across the room. Then he turned to her, and pulled her into his arms.

"I'm sorry." He whispered in her ear. "I'm so sorry."

Buffy just held onto him and cried. "Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. Why would anyone want to do this?" she asked softly.

"This isn't really about you. It's about me. The tabloids have been trashing me since I began skating professionally. This was just another opportunity. I want to kill them for dragging you into this."

Buffy pulled away. "It isn't your fault. We had lunch and that was it. We aren't a couple and we most certainly did not have sex in an alley in the middle of New York City."

"They know that. But like I said, they needed a story and this was a good one. Do you want to stay here tonight?"

"Would you mind?" 

"I offered. Let me go get dressed and we'll try to get some sleep." Angel said, reluctantly leaving the room. He returned a moment later in black silk boxers and a white wife beater. Buffy had stripped down to her sports bra and shorts. "You take the bed, I'll take the couch." Angel told her, getting some sheets out of the closet.

"No, this is your room, you should take the bed. I'll be fine on the couch." Buffy argued, taking the sheets from him.

"But you're the lady. I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable."

"It's nice to know that chivalry isn't dead, but I really don't mind sleeping on the couch."

"We can share the bed." Angel offered uncertainly. "I don't mind if you don't."

Buffy thought about that for a moment before nodding. With the emotional turmoil she was in, it would feel good to be held all night. She folded the sheets back up, placed them back in the closet and joined Angel in the bed. He flipped off the bedside lamp and scooted over so she wouldn't feel crowded.

Buffy woke up the next morning in a very compromising position with Angel. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and his groin was firmly pressing into hers. His hand was resting on her breast and the other arm was under his head. Buffy tried to wriggle away, but found they were too tightly entwined. She also found that, even though he was asleep, Angel still had a very prominent reaction to her wiggling. Less than ten seconds later Angel's eyes opened. It took him a moment to realize their position, and when he did, his hand immediately moved from her breast to her hip.

"Sorry." He muttered, trying to move so they could disentangle themselves. He only succeeded in making them roll until he was on top of her, her legs still around his waist and a very hard part of his anatomy pressed erotically into her.

"Oh my." Buffy breathed. She saw Angel's eyes darken with lust and she felt her own body reacting to the situation. Instinctively she arched her hips to anchor herself more firmly against him and one of her arms went around his waist. "Suddenly thinking this isn't going to be gotten out of without nakedness." She murmured, groaning as he ground into her.

"Thinking along the right lines there." Angel agreed, a millisecond before his mouth crashed down on hers. His tongue swept into her mouth, meeting hers in an erotic dance. She groaned again and arched harder against him, craving skin to skin contact. She dropped her hips back down to the bed and used her legs to pull him down into her before lifting the top part of her body to press into his. She reached up and yanked his wife beater off of him and guided his hand to her breast, moaning when he squeezed gently. She suddenly felt no inhibitions about what they were doing.

Angel raised up on his arms and gazed down at her before roughly removing her bra. As soon as the piece of fabric was gone, his hands covered the perfect globes. He gently massaged them, letting their rosy tips press into his palms before sweeping his thumbs over them. She arched into his touch and he lowered his head to taste her, his tongue coming out to touch each nipple softly before drawing one into his mouth. Buffy moaned loudly t the sensations going through her body and ran her fingers through his hair.

"Angel." Buffy whispered, his name an endearment on her lips. He looked into her eyes and suddenly knew the waiting was over. He removed her shorts and his boxers and guided her legs around his waist, his hardness pressing into the juncture between her thighs. Without any words he asked permission. With a silent nod she gave it and he pushed into her. Buffy cried out at the sudden pain as he tore through her virginity and he stilled in shock, unable to believe that she had been a virgin. As the pain ebbed, Buffy inadvertently bucked her hips, taking him deep within her. He lost control after that and thrust into her strongly. 

Buffy was a stranger to the feelings going through her with every thrust of Angel's lean hips. He drove into her again and again, the pleasure of the feeling of him inside her overwhelming the pain she still found at the invasion of her body. Soon, she began thrusting against him and soon after that she climaxed, his name erupting from her lips. Angel followed her a minute later.

"Buffy," Angel whispered after he found his ability to speak once again. "Did I hurt you?"

"No." Buffy said, unsure of where the conversation was leading. "It hurt at first, but after it stopped, I don't think anything has ever felt so good." She admitted sheepishly. "And I suppose you already figured out that this was my first time."

"Yes. Are you sure you're okay? If I had known I would've gone slower."

"I'm fine. But I have to know, embarrassing as it is to ask. How bad was I?"

Angel coughed in surprise. "Bad? Buffy, sweetheart, you weren't bad. In fact, if I knew for sure that you were up to it, I was going to suggest we do it again."

Buffy turned red. "I'm fine."

Angel leaned over and kissed her deeply. No other words were said for a long time. After making love two more times, both fell into an exhausted sleep, their limbs comfortably intertwined. 

Buffy woke first and the first thing she felt was an incredible soreness between her legs. She rolled over and the blanket slipped from her shoulders, making her remember how naked she was. She grew red in embarrassment and pulled the blanket back over her before slipping out of bed. She gathered her clothes and hurried into the bathroom to dress in private. By the time Angel woke up, she was sitting in a chair across from the bed, fully clothed and ready for a talk.

"Hey." Angel said groggily. "Why'd you get up?"

"Woke up and needed to get dressed. We need to talk."

"What about?"

"Everything. The good news is I decided to skate pairs with you."

"And the bad news?"

"I'm not sure if there is bad news or not. To be honest that's up to you."

"What's up to me exactly?"

"If there is or isn't bad news. But first let's address the sex that happened two hours ago. What's going to happen between us? Is anything going to happen between us? I mean, we made love three times, was that it or do you want to try and make a relationship work?" 

"That's a lot of questions for one breath. I don't know. Things are complicated. The rumors and everything are flying around and if we start publically dating, the media will have a field day. But don't go thinking that nothing is ever going to happen. What we did this morning isn't going to be taken lightly. But we do have to take the media and all the rumors flying around into consideration before we decide on a course of action."

"So, what course of action do you want to take?" Buffy asked, nervously clasping and unclasping her hands. "And I don't really care about the media if you don't."

"The point is not me caring whether or not the media trashes me. The point is, I care about the media trashing the relationship that you and I have."

"And what kind of relationship do we have? I'm a little confused on that part. Give me a blunt answer Angel. Was what happened a one night stand, or are you in for the long haul?"

"That isn't a fair question."

"And that was quite enough of an answer."

"That wasn't the answer. God dammit Buffy, I love you, do you think I just want you to leave and never come back?! Hell no! But there are circumstances out of our control and we need to deal with the situation accordingly."

Buffy sat in silence at his proclamation of love. "Here's another circumstance. We didn't use any protection. That was three times Angel. There's a good chance I may be pregnant." She said softly, running her hands through her hair. 

Angel was surprised to say the least, but he knew silence would scare her, so he chose to speak. "When can you be sure?"

"A week. Maybe two. But what happens if I am pregnant?"

"I don't want you to worry about it. If we are having a baby, it's not nearly the end of the world. To be truthful, it probably wouldn't be a bad thing at all. At least not to me."

Buffy sighed in obvious relief. "What about the us thing? Is there an us?"

"There is definitely an us. I do love you and, believe it or not, I want to spend a long, long time with you. Preferably the rest of our lives kind of long, long time."

Buffy nearly cried at the sincerity in his voice. "Do you really mean that?"

"I really mean that. I think I've loved you since you were fourteen years old."

"In that case, I love you too." She said softly, shaking from all the emotions and the fear running through her. Fear that she was going to have a baby when she was barely nineteen years old, fear that the press would get news of her pregnancy before it was even confirmed or disproved, and most of all fear that, as it always did, something bad would happen to ruin everything good that had started in her life. But then Angel was beside her, pulling her into his arms and holding her gently against him.

"Shh. What's wrong?" he asked, cradling her gently.

"It's nothing really." Buffy said, hugging him back. "I just can't help thinking that something else bad is going to happen to us. We've been together less that a day and we already have to face so much it isn't even funny."

"I know, but we can work through this. We will work everything out. I promise you that." He said in her ear, placing a kiss there after he was done speaking. She offered a small, yet relieved smile and then leaned in to kiss him.

"I'm glad you don't hate me." She whispered after pulling away from the kiss.

"If I hated you, it wouldn't have been very easy for me to fall in love with you." Angel pointed out reasonably. "And in love with you I am, so there's no way I could ever have hated you."

Buffy laughed and let him kiss her, deeply that time. She returned his kiss eagerly, opening her mouth willingly to let his tongue in. But a moment later, he pulled back. "I just realized that I have a practice with Darla in twenty minutes and a competition this afternoon. And we have to start working on a routine for the pairs program and we have to register this morning or it's too late. So, as much as I want to stay here with you all day, we do have to get dressed and go do some things."

Buffy nodded and stood up and he noticed that she was already showered and dressed. He chuckled, kissed her once and then walked into the bathroom to shower. Buffy scribbled a note to him and left for her room. She also had practice and needed to talk to Giles about everything that had been going on.

"So let me get this straight." Darla said, trying to keep her voice down. "After all I went through to keep that bitch away from you, you go and get rumors started about the two of you having hot, wild, monkey sex in an alley behind a Chinese restaurant. Then, you really do go and have sex, albeit not in an alley, but in your hotel room."

"Now, I never said that." Angel said, looking his coach square in the eye. "I said she spent the night in my room because she was so upset about the rumors."

"And what if someone saw her leaving your room? Do you really think that would do any good to your career? I want you to stay away from her Angel, she's bad news."

"No. I won't stay away from her Darla. She isn't bad news."

"Then let me give you an ultimatum. Either you break off whatever it is you have going on with her or you start looking for a new coach. It's your decision. Make it fast."

"Hope you enjoy the flight home." Angel said, disappearing into his dressing room. He changed out of his workout clothes and into jeans and a black sweater. He walked back out and headed for the door.

"Where the Hell do you think you're going?" Darla demanded, catching up with him.

"To find a new coach." He answered lightly, walking away. "Do you think Rupert Giles would be interested?" he asked, knowing how much she hated the other coach.

"You bastard." Darla hissed between clenched teeth. "You're in love with her. Buffy Summers has managed to make you fall in love with her."

Angel shook his head. "And that's where you're wrong Darla. Buffy didn't make me do anything, I did it of my own free will."

"So you are in love with her?"

Angel nodded. "I have been for five years. Bye." He said, climbing into his car.

"You'll never get a coach as good as me." Darla tried as a last resort. Angel stuck his head out the window to answer.

"Darla, you know there is one thing I really like about falling in love, and that is how crystal clear it makes everything seem. And I realized this morning that every bad thing I have ever heard about you is a hundred percent true. You are an evil, lying, conniving bitch who doesn't know what's good for herself. And the only thing that has kept you up to your ears in clients is the fact that you're my coach. And I might add that you're an awful coach. Now please step away from my car or I will be forced to run you over."

Darla grudgingly moved out of the way of his car. She watched him drive away in complete silence. After he was out of hearing range, she spoke. "I'll get you for this Angel. You and Buffy will pay for this. I swear to God you both will pay."

Rupert Giles looked at Angel curiously. "You want me to be your coach?" he asked in disbelief.

"That's what I said. I fired Darla."

"Why?"

"Because she's a witch who can't mind her own business."

"Somehow, I think that you've been aware of that for a while."

"Yeah, but she never tried to make me dump my girlfriend for no good reason before."

"Oh? And who is your girlfriend?"

Angel shook his head. "I can't tell you. You know her, and she'd kill me if I said anything without running it by her first."

Giles smiled understandingly. "I can relate. My wife, Buffy's mother, throws a fit if I do anything without running it by her first."

"I think all women are like that."

Giles laughed. "Probably. Oh there you are Buffy, you're late for practice."

"Sorry, I got held up by a bunch of reporters. Hey, what are you doing here?" Buffy asked Angel, sitting down in his lap.

"Trying to talk Giles into being my coach. I kinda fired my old one."

Buffy raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. "So, are you going to do it Giles?" she asked eagerly.

"Yes. I would be glad to coach you, Liam."

"Please, call me Angel, I can't stand that name."

"Okay, Angel, seeing as how you have a competition later today, and Buffy informed me that you two are skating pairs together, we have a lot to get done and very little time to do it in. Both of you need to go get changed into some workout clothes and meet me on the ice in twenty minutes." Giles said, standing and walking out of the room. Angel and Buffy followed behind quickly. They walked down to the ice rink and back to the dressing rooms.

"Is working together going to be a problem for you?" Angel asked softly as they disappeared into her dressing room.

Buffy shook her head. "I can be professional if you can." She assured him, taking off her jeans to pull on leggings. She pulled a large T-shirt over her head, and pulled her skates out of her closet.

"That's not exactly what I meant, but it's close enough." Angel said, changing his clothes also. Buffy was pulling her hair back into a ponytail before he spoke again, "My competition should be over at nine. Do you want to go do something afterward? A walk or dinner?"

"Sure. But wouldn't people see us? That would break he we're dating in secret rule. We could watch a movie in one of our rooms or something."

"Okay. Yeah, we can do that if you want to."

Buffy sighed. "I wish things weren't so complicated. I wish we were just normal and I wasn't scared to death of going on the ice with you to perform. And most of all, I wish we could go out without worrying about what the papers would say tomorrow morning."

Angel hugged her. "I know. I think that after this competition we should take some time off. My parents own a cabin in Colorado that's fifty miles from anything. We could go there. It's probably snowing by now."

Buffy smiled, "Sounds perfect. Come on, we have to go meet Giles."

Angel followed her as she glided onto the ice. Giles was sitting on a couch in the skaters' box waiting for them. As soon as they were both on the ice, he walked out to join them. "Okay. First off we have to pick a song. Any suggestions?"

Buffy thought for a moment. "Something fun. I was sick of classical stuff by the time I was ten. But it has to be long too. Slow or fast?"

"Definitely upbeat." Angel said, "We did that one routine really fast."

Buffy nodded, "So fast, lengthy and written in the last century. Anything you have in your collection fit that?"

Giles looked deep in thought. "I'll have to check. I'll be back shortly. Warm up while I am gone." 

Buffy turned to Angel and skated backwards slowly. She circled the rink, then lined herself up for a simple single jump. After she landed, Angel joined her and they began choreographing their routine. The jumps were kept pretty simple at first, but as they continued, they became more complicated until Angel told her to attempt the quint jump again. Buffy nervously agreed.

"Ready?" Angel asked, pulling her close against him.

"As I'll ever be." Buffy confirmed, pulling out of his protective grasp. They did the preliminary loop around the rink, gaining speed steadily, then, completely in sync, launched themselves into the air, their bodies turning in five complete circles before they touched back down on the ice, their landings as perfect as the jump. Buffy let out a small squeal of delight at having done the jump successfully for the first time.

"Good job." Angel complimented his partner as they glided to a stop. She threw her arms around his neck in elation and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back, twirling her in a circle before he set her back down on her feet.

"I can't believe I actually did that. Did it look okay or was it horrible?"

"It was perfect." Angel assured her, "No one could have done any better. I think we should use that in our routine."

"I don't know. Teams are just starting to use the quad jump. If we use the quint then there will be a whole new set of standards."

"So? Is that a bad thing?"

"Not particularly, but I just want to practice it some more at the very least. That's the second time I've done the jump and only the first time I've done it right. There's no telling how it would go in front of a crowd."

"That seems fair. But for now, let's plan on having it in our routine. If you aren't comfortable with it, we'll go down to a quad jump and take the deduction."

"Sounds good." Buffy agreed, "So, what all do we need to do to get ready? We're already registered, I did that this morning. We need music and choreographing, is there anything else?" 

Angel thought for a moment. "I don't think so. How many events do you have left to skate?"

"Women's long program, semi final technical, ,maybe a final technical, and then possibly semi and final long programs. What about you?"

"Pretty much the same. Except it's the men's division."

Buffy laughed, "Well I should hope so. And I think I would know if you were anything but a guy."

"That you would." Angel agreed, leaning down to kiss her soundly on the mouth. She returned his kiss and then pulled away. "I think we can handle our choreographing and Giles just went to get music, so I think after a couple more practices, we'll be good to go."

"Good. I gotta tell you, this is going to have some press coverage. I mean, this is my first pairs skate in three years. And with all the rumors flying around there's no telling how much hassle we'll have to go through."

"I don't want you to worry about it. Everything will be fine. And if it isn't, we'll deal with whatever comes our way."

Buffy smiled and leaned into him. "Y'know, this feels suspiciously right. And I can't help but feel that something awful is going to happen to ruin all this."

"If it does, we'll get through." Angel promised, not seeing Darla step into the rink. She had overheard the last part of their conversation and smiled wickedly.

"You'll get what you deserve, you little bitch. I'll do anything I have to do to get my Angel back. Just you wait. When the press gets ahold of what I've got for them, it'll split you two apart. And I will be waiting for Angel to come running to me for comfort when you break his heart." Darla vowed maliciously. "Even if I have to kill you to do it."

End for now. There will be more parts coming soon, I promise. Review and let me know what you think. Take it if you want it, just let me know where it goes.


	2. Beginning of the end

Title: Trust Me, Chapter 2

Rating: Same as the last chapter, R

Disclaimer: See first chapter. All lyrics are from Sarah McLachlan's song Angel.

Summary: As they take the ice for the first time in a competition, how will things go for Buffy and Angel? Will Darla manage to separate them?

Author's Note: I got a couple bad reviews for the first chapter, and I would like to apologize for any misleading statements in my story. This is complete fiction and it is not meant to be taken for fact. I have not done much research on the logistics of skating, so anything that seems out of the realm of reality probably is. This is all purely from my imagination. 

Buffy paced nervously in front of the mirror in her dressing room. She and Angel were due to take the ice in ten minutes and she felt sick. It had been so long since she had staked doubles in front of a crowd that she thought she would die from nervousness. They had polished their routine and had cut out all of the big jumps that she had been uncomfortable with. As the first woman to ever do a quad jump in competition, she felt disappointed about not rising to meet a challenge, but five and a half spins had just been too much for her small frame.

"Buffy?" Giles asked, poking his head in the door, "Are you ready? You go on next."

"I'll be there in a minute Giles." Buffy told him without turning around. She reached for her skates and pulled them on, testing the blade and tightening the laces simply out of habit. She took off her sweater and inspected her appearance in front of the mirror. Her costume was bright red and very clingy so she felt a little uncomfortable in it, but it was easier to skate in than something loose and flowing like the other choices had been.

Angel watched the couple before him and Buffy take the ice and wondered again where she was. The couple was from Russia and they were very good. He watched their chemistry and synchronicity with a critical eye. He could detect no flaws in their flow of movement. The woman did look a little stiff and jerky though. His thought was proven true when she fell during a double toe loop. He grimaced at the obvious pain she was in from the way she landed, but was impressed when she climbed to her feet and continued with the program.

Buffy took a deep, stimulating breath and stepped out of her dressing room. She headed down the hall and saw a familiar blonde figure standing at the entrance to the skaters' box where she was supposed to wait for her turn to skate. 

Darla turned around and smiled at Buffy maliciously. Buffy ignored her and tried to get past. Darla's bruising grip on her arm stopped her progress. Without a word Buffy turned around and removed Darla's fingers from her arm and attempted to continue to her seat.

"You aren't going anywhere until we have ourselves a little talk." Darla explained, tightening her grip on the younger woman's arm, making deep furrows in her skin.

"What do you want Darla? There is nothing to be said between us."

"That's where you're wrong sweetie. See, there's a system. And it's called not moving in on another woman's man. And it seems that you need a lesson in that particular subject. A lesson I am going to be more than happy to teach you."

"As enjoyable as this conversation sounds, it's gonna have to wait. I have to perform with my boyfriend. We're contenders for first place and we need to go over a couple tricky spots before we go on. I'm sure you understand. After all, as Angel's **_previous _**coach, you know all his little pre-performance quirks." Buffy stressed the word previous to make Darla angry enough to move out of her way. She succeeded in buying herself a small amount of time where Darla was speechless.

Angel saw Buffy enter their seats looking a little shook up. He excused himself from the people he was talking to and walked over to where his girlfriend was sitting. She offered him a weak smile and bent over to stretch.

"What happened?"

"Nothing. Darla and I just had a little talk and it shook me up a little. Nothing for you to worry about though." Buffy assured him, finishing her stretches. She stood up and raised her arms above her head, stretching out all the muscles in her arms.

"What did she say?"

"Not much. Just that we needed to talk about the rules of stealing men. I seem to think that I didn't violate any of the rules since we weren't friends, and you and she were not dating at the time I allegedly stole you from her." Buffy explained, "And even if you had been dating, I sure didn't have to try very hard to get you. At all actually. In fact, the whole thing was based on certain compromising circumstances."

Angel nodded. "Are you sure it didn't upset you? If it did, I can go talk to her. She always listened to me."

Buffy shook her head. "As much as I hate it, this is my fight and truth be told, I was in the wrong. I always try to consider other peoples feelings hen I make a decision, and when I decided to be with you, I never even thought about her feelings."

"It wasn't your place to think about her feelings. There was nothing between us and she never let either of us know that she was interested. If she had, I would say let's talk to her, but since she is being an evil bitch about the entire situation, then I say let's forget about it and concentrate on walking out of here with the gold medal."

Giles hurried over, "Guys, get on the ice! It's your turn to skate!" he announced and the pair took off their protective skate coverings and took the ice.

"And now, taking the ice for the first time in four years, World, National, and Olympic champions, Liam Angelus Deveraux and Buffy Anne Summers!" the announcer announced over the speaker system. 

Buffy and Angel too a simultaneous breath and glided onto the ice in perfect unison. They stopped near the center of the ice and waited for their music, "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan to begin. When the opening notes began, Buffy skated away, going around the rink in a loop by herself.

__

Spend all your time waiting for that second chance

For the break that will make it okay.

After those two line Angel joined her for a pair of double toe loops and the followed her for another loop, gaining speed as they prepared for their first triple jump, a lutz. Their landings were perfect and simultaneous, earning them a large round of applause from the crowd and a whistle from one of the commentators.

__

There's always some reason to feel not good enough

And it's hard at the end of the day

I need some distraction or a beautiful release

Memories seep from my veins

Buffy skated into Angel's arms for some intricate footwork and a throw before the chorus began.

__

Let me be empty and weightless and maybe

I'll find some peace tonight.

Angel wrapped his arms around Buffy's waist and they glided across the ice in a large figure eight, her feet on top of his and her arms behind her head, wrapped around his neck.

__

In the arms of the Angel far away from here

From this dark cold hotel room and the endlessness that you fear

Buffy left the warms confines of Angel's arms and swiftly glided away from him at top speed. He went one way, and she the other, and just when they were about to pass each other, they did a triple axle, triple toe loop combination that went into a scratch spin.

__

You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent revelrie

You're in the arms of the Angel; may you find some comfort here

Angel grabbed Buffy from behind and lifted her over his head before tossing her. She spun in the air and then touched down gracefully. He caught up with her and he lifted her again, that time turning her around so that she could wrap her legs around his waist then bend backwards so that her hair was nearly trailing on the ice.

__

So tired of the straight line, and everywhere you turn

There's vultures and thieves at your back

The storm keeps on twisting, you keep building the lies

That you make up for all that you lack

Buffy did a quick triple-double axle combo as she skated toward Angel for their next set of simultaneous jumps, a double-quad combination then a combination spin. After that, they parted ways again and, at opposite sides of the rink, did triple lutz's.

__

It don't make no difference, escaping one last time

It's easier to believe,

In this sweet madness, oh this glorious sadness 

That brings me to my knees.

Buffy skated into Angel's arms for the final sequence of steps, spins, another triple-triple combination and a throw. She helped him lift her slightly, then folded her arms into her chest as he prepared to throw her. He tossed her, and she rotated three and a half times before touching down moments before they lined up for their jump combination.

__

In the arms of the Angel far away from here

From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear

Angel lined them up perfectly for the jump combination, and the triples were simultaneous and perfectly executed. They landed only a few steps apart and he swept her back into his arms for the ending footwork. The last lines of the song echoed throughout the building as they ended then routine and took their final poses, her arms around his neck, their bodies pressed tightly against each other and their mouths lightly touching.

__

You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent revelrie

In the arms of the Angel; may you find some comfort here

You're in the arms of the Angel; may you find some comfort here.

Buffy relinquished her hold on Angel and, hands joined tightly, they took their bows as flowers and small stuffed animals rained down on the ice. They took one loop around, picking some of the stuff up, then left the ice to impatiently await their scores. Both were nervous, and the nervousness was increasing with every passing moment as they waited for the scores to be announce.

"And the technical scores for Liam Deveraux and Buffy Summers are as follows: 5.9, 5.8, 5.9, 5.9, 6.0, 6.0, 6.0. And the artistic scores are: 5.8, 5.8, 5.9, 5.9, 6.0, 5.9, 6.0. Score is: 5.92, placing them in first place.

Buffy screamed and threw herself into Angel's arms. He lifted her and twirled her around in a large circle before kissing her solidly on the mouth, and lifting her into his arms. He held her for a long moment as they kissed, then reluctantly placed her back on her feet. She hugged him again, then hugged Giles, who had come over to congratulate them, tightly.

"Thank you so much Giles, we never could have done this without you." Buffy said sincerely. "It means more than you can ever know."

"It was no problem Buffy. Now you two need to go get changed and watch the other couples perform. I really don't see any competition, and I would say that you two have the gold in the bag."

Buffy cheered once, then hugged the two men again before excusing herself to go to her dressing room to change and cool down for a few minutes. She took off her skates in the hall and padded down the long corridor barefoot. She never even noticed Darla following her until she followed her into her dressing room and shut the door behind them.

"What do you want? I'm a little busy." Buffy demanded, tossing her skates on the couch and turning to face the other blonde.

"I want to talk to you."

"We've said everything that needs to be said. Now I would very much appreciate it if you left."

"No. I'm not going anywhere until we have ourselves a little talk."

"Fine. Then you can stay here, but I need to get changed into something more comfortable and go watch the other competitors. It's only polite."

"Screw polite. You and I are going to talk honey. And neither of us are leaving this room until we do."

"Fine. What do you want to talk about? The weather? Or would you like me to tell you how good Angel is in bed, since you never got the chance to find out?"

Darla gaped for a moment before chuckling. "Nice one my dear. You're getting a quick tongue there."

"Angel seems to think so."

The barb hit. Darla reeled a little before continuing. The verbal battle wasn't going to be as easy a win as she thought. "I know. He was just telling my brother about all the things you do with that tongue this morning. I never thought you had it in you Buffy. You always seemed too virtuous and innocent. But then again, Angel always did like virgins better than experienced women. He claimed they were a tighter, and better screw. Something about how they'd do whatever he wanted without asking questions."

"Whatever. Do you really think I'm going to fall for any of this crap? Angel and I are together because we love each other. No other reason. And if he were after blushing virgins, he would've had you a long time ago, because God knows no man who wasn't just a wham bam thank you ma'am kind of guy wouldn't touch you."

"Okay, now that the little bickering part of our argument is over the real fun begins. You slept with Angel, and that in itself is unforgivable. Did you ever wonder why none of the girls Angel sleeps with are ever with him for more than a day or two?"

"Not really."

"They never stay together because they are all either scared or bribed away. And if that doesn't work, let's just say, they meet their maker a little sooner than expected. So what's it gonna be? Money, fear or death that's going to get you away from my Angel?"

"How about none of the above? You aren't smart enough to get away with murder, Darla. It takes brains to do that. And you are seriously lacking in the brains department. I have enough money and you don't scare me in the least. So let's suffice it to say that you aren't going to get rid of me."

"I wouldn't bet on that. See, the only good thing about having a lot of ties to unscrupulous people is having all their man power at my disposal. So either you leave Angel alone and make yourself scarce until he forgets about you or I will put out a mob hit on your head and you won't live to see your next birthday."

"You don't scare me Darla. I'm not a nobody girlfriend. If I start yelling about a mob hit and a murder plot on my head, people will listen and even if you kill me or have me killed, you'll still be held responsible. I won't let you get away with anything and now you've just admitted to murder. Do you think that I'll just sit here and do nothing? I really don't think so." Buffy said, changing into her warm ups at a rapid pace. She grabbed her stuff and walked toward the door. She never let Darla know how much the admission of murder and the threat on her life had shaken her.

Angel walked out of his dressing room and walked down to Buffy's just as she left it. She looked shaken and her face was white as a ghost. He grabbed her arm to steady and started to lead her back inside. She refused adamantly so he led her down to his dressing room and shut and locked the door behind them.

"What's wrong?" he demanded, pushing her down on the couch.

"Nothing. I'm fine." Buffy said shakily, trying to compose herself.

"Then why are you about to cry? You're shaking like a leaf. What happened? You came out of your dressing room like you'd just heard that your dog died."

Buffy knew he wasn't going to let her get away without an explanation. "I can't tell you. If I do, I know she'll kill me."

Angel sank down beside her, shock evident on his face. "Who's going to kill you? Buffy, sweetie, tell me what happened so I can protect you."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. I swear nothing will happen to you."

Buffy suddenly found herself wanting nothing more than to spill everything to him. "Okay. But you can't say or do anything. If she finds out, I'm dead."

"I won't say anything."

"When I got back to my room, Darla was following me. She went inside and verbal bashing began. Then she admitted to murder. She asked me why I thought that none of your girlfriends were ever with you for more than a day or two. Then she told me that she either killed, bribed or scared them. And she said that if I told anybody she'd have me killed too and the scary thing is, I believe her. So you can't say a word."

Angel sighed deeply and hugged her close. "I won't say anything. But you aren't getting out of my sight until we have enough proof to put her away. Got it?"

Buffy managed a weak smile. "Got it. Oh, she also said that she's from a mob family. She doesn't actually do the killing. She hires people to do it."

After another hour of talking, Giles came and got them. The results were about to be announced and the awards given. Buffy quickly washed her face, reapplied her makeup with what she had in her bags, changed back into her costume, which she had brought with her, put her skates on and followed Angel out of the room, down the hall, and into the skaters' box.

"And the winner, with an average score of 5.92 is, Liam Deveraux and Buffy Summers!" the announcement startled them and Buffy and Angel hugged and tried their hardest to look happy, despite their startling news.

Twenty minutes later, Buffy and Angel were standing on the top of the podium at the awards ceremony. The judges were passing out the medals and Buffy and Angel both accepted their gold medals graciously. They hugged and kissed and then Angel spoke.

"I love you, Buffy." 

"I love you too, Angel."

And then all Hell broke loose. Darla came charging onto the ice with a skate blade being brandished as her weapon. No one caught her until it was too late. She bashed Buffy on the back of the head, and as she fell forward, sliced her again on the back of one knee. Blood spurted everywhere and Buffy fell into Angel's arms, already unconscious from the force of the blow. The other men grabbed Darla and Giles dialed 911. Darla kicked and screamed and managed to break a couple noses before she was detained by security guards who had rushed onto the ice.

Angel couldn't focus on anything except Buffy and everything about her was painfully clear. The blood coming off her face and landing on his arm, the way her head lolled to one side, her breathing shallow. He cradled her against him and sank down to the podium slowly, so as not to jar her too much.

Giles ran over and crouched down beside Angel and Buffy. He said something, but Angle didn't know what. He reached out and pressed his hand to the slash along the back of her skull that was gushing blood and grimaced as blood still poured from between his fingers. 

"I called 911. The paramedics are on their way. They had just left the building and will be here in a minute or two." Giles said again, more slowly so Angel could hear him, but still got the distinct impression that he was being ignored.

Angel heard sirens in the distance over the din of people yelling and looked toward the entrance just seconds before the paramedics rushed in with a stretcher and a first aid kit. They also had an IV and a heart monitor. He watched as they ran over, then objected when they took Buffy away.

"Don't move her." He said tensely. "Her neck is hurt."

"Sir, please. Let us do our job." One paramedic said, regarding Angel with some animosity. He pressed gauze to the back of her head and helped his partner, a woman lift her onto the gurney.

"Are you coming?" the woman asked Angel quickly, looking back at him over her shoulder. He nodded and ran to catch up with them. Giles had already left to get his car and follow the ambulance to the hospital.

The staff at the hospital wasn't expecting a famous ice skater when the call came over about a sever lacerations to the back of the head and knees. The ER doctor on call had been expecting a fight gone wrong or the result of a brawl at the rink. What he got was Olympic gold medalist Buffy Summers with severe cranial swelling, a two inch deep slice on the back of her skull and with a slash across the back of her knee that had cut several tendons and severed a lot of muscles. He shook his head and looked at his nurse, who was applying pressure to her knee to stop all the bleeding.

"If that knee is as bad as I think it is, she won't skate again."

"It's that bad. How's her head?"

"Her brain is swelling from the trauma so we'll need to drill a hole to relieve the pressure, and this cut definitely needs a lot of stitches. I'd say she also has a pretty bad concussion, and maybe a hairline fracture. How's the knee?"

"From the way it looks, the tendons will need to be pieced back together, the muscle looks like hamburger and a couple ligaments are history."

"Call down and get me an OR. I need to take her into emergency surgery to drill that hole in her skull. And call the reconstructive surgeon. She'll need to come in tomorrow and try to repair that knee. For now, butterfly it and wrap it good. Disinfect it too. We don't want any infection settling in."

The nurse ran off to do what she had been told and Dr. Williams prepared to take Buffy into surgery. She looked awful. Her hair was matted with blood and her face covered with it. She would have to be cleaned up before they did anything. Sighing, he called another nurse in to get her prepped for surgery. He had the unfortunate job of going to talk to her family.

Angel jumped up when he saw a doctor come out. "How is she?" he asked, instinctively knowing that he was coming out to talk about Buffy.

"She'll live. I have to take her into emergency surgery to drill a hole in her skull where the trauma made her brain swell and the laceration along the back of her skull cut pretty deep. I'll have to stitch that up. She'll go into ICU after the surgery and stay there until tomorrow when our reconstructive surgeon will attempt to put her knee back together. In my professional opinion, it does not look like she will ever skate again. It could be months before she can walk without the aid of crutches."

Don't ya just love cliff hangers? I'll try to get the next chapter out soon. Stay tuned for the next chapters of Fixing Things and Recipe for Disaster? Too. I will be updating soon.


	3. Revelations and promises

Hey! Here's the third chapter of Trust Me. Make sure to read the latest update, ch.3 on Recipe for Disaster? I just posted that a couple days ago. So, enjoy the story, and I'll get all the next chapters out as soon as possible, but with six stories going on at the same time, it gets a little hard to update regularly.

Angel looked shocked when the doctor delivered his news. Then, he stood and left the hospital. Giles looked at the doctor apologetically and followed Angel. He found him against the side of the building trying to compose himself.

"Angel. Come back inside. She'll want to see you when everything's done. It wasn't your fault."

"She was my coach. I fired her because I wanted to be with Buffy and now she'll never get to skate again. This is the second time she's landed in the hospital because of me, Giles."

"I know. But that time was not your fault and neither is this. It was a horrible thing that Darla did to her, and I doubt she will ever be forgiven, but all in all, it was her doing and neither you, or Buffy had anything to do with her decision."

"Her mother is going to hate me."

"Joyce can be a little melodramatic, but I'm sure that, between the three of us, she'll be all right. And speaking of Joyce, I have to call her and a couple of Buffy's friends. I'm sure you know some of them. Cordelia Chase, Willow Rosenberg, Xander Harris, and Daniel Osbourne."

"Yeah, I know some of them. Xander, Willow and I used to train together when we were younger."

"Yes. Well, I have to get back inside and call Joyce. Please, do come with me. It's cold out here and you'll be sick."

Reluctantly, Angel followed his coach inside the building for the long wait. Hours later, the surgeon once again made an appearance with a somber look on his face. Angel and Giles, along with the new arrivals of Joyce, Cordelia, Wesley Pryce, Xander and Willow jumped up to go meet him.

"How is she?" Giles asked anxiously.

"The reconstructive surgeon came in right away to put her knee back together. The prognosis is not good. Dr. Southerland will be out shortly to fill you in on the details, but from my limited knowledge on the situation, I don't think that anything I told you earlier will change. As far as her head goes, we were able to drill the hole with no problem and we expect a full recovery in a few days. So, do you have any questions for me?"

"What will she have to do as far as physical therapy?" Wesley asked, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"Well, as soon as her knee heals to an extent, we'll have her come here to the hospital for physical therapy three times a week to try and rebuild some of the muscle tissue that was damaged. During that time, we'll try to get her out of the wheelchair and onto crutches and eventually back onto her feet. But be prepared. It could be months or even a matter of years before she can walk without pain or the aide of a walker or crutches."

Angel finally spoke. "What are her chances of skating again?"

"In a few years she should be able to skate recreationally without any problems. I seriously doubt that she will skate professionally ever again. However, she may surprise all of us and skate again in a few years."

"What percentage of a chance does she have of going professional again?"

"Possibly a one to five percent chance."

Buffy became aware of her surroundings very slowly. She recognized the feel of a bandage covering her head and felt the breathing tube down her throat. She lifted her hand and saw several wires running from machines and an IV running into one of her veins. She felt heaviness on her knee and heard the whir of several machines as they made sure everything inside her was operating correctly. She heard shoes click against the floor and opened her eyes. A nurse was entering her room with a tray.

"Well hello there. It's good to see you awake. You've been asleep a long time. Let me go call your doctor and then we'll get those tubes out and move you into your room. How's that sound?"

Buffy, finding that the tube running down her throat inhibited her speech, could only nod. The nurse offered one last, bright smile and left the room. She heard voices in the hallway, and then three people walked in. She recognized the doctor from the emergency room, but the other woman who had come in was a stranger to her.

"Hello Buffy, I'm Dr. Williams. I took care of you last night. This is a colleague of mine Dr. Southerland. She helped me put your knee back together. Do you remember what happened to you?"

Buffy nodded. Dr. Williams moved around her and gently took the breathing tube out of her throat. "Darla." She croaked, using her voice for the first time in hours.

"Yes. She hurt you pretty badly. I'm going to tell you all about it, but not right now. Right now you need to rest and concentrate on getting better. We'll give you something to help you sleep and when you wake up we'll have a talk, okay?"

"No sleep." Buffy insisted. "What….happened to my—knee?" she managed to get out, despite her inability to form many coherent thoughts.

"You have some muscle and tendon damage. It'll take a while to heal, but we expect a good recovery."

"Tell me the truth."

"When we get you settled I'll tell you everything I promise. You just need to rest right now."

"Is everyone here?"

"Your family? Yes. Your boyfriend is here as well."

"Can I see them?"

"In a while. You need to rest, if not sleep, right now. You're in no condition for visitors."

"Then tell me what happened. You're my doctors, not visitors."

"We will. As soon as you get a little rest and get some of your strength back."

"Look, either you tell me what's wrong with me or you go get my parents and Angel and bring them back. Hell, I wouldn't mind if you let everyone waiting for news on me come back and see me. I don't want to sleep and I don't want to rest. All I want to know is what the heck happened to me when Darla attacked me. So, who's going to tell me? One of you or one of them people in the waiting room?" 

Dr. Williams sighed and pushed her bed further down the hall. "All right Buffy, let's go through this little by little. You were attacked at the skating rink by your boyfriend's former coach Darla. She hit you in the side of the had with the blade of her skate and put a deep laceration in the side of your head, giving you the concussion that's giving you that headache that I know you have. When you went down she got in one more good hit to the back of your knee. It cut through a great deal of tendons and muscle tissue. The damage was nearly irreparable, but Dr. Southerland, put you back together pretty nicely. However, the damage done to the tendons and ligaments is very severe. It will probably be a matter of weeks before you can walk on crutches or with a walker and then possibly months after that before you can walk completely unaided. After that, the healing process should speed up again and we expect a near full recovery within a year's time. However, it is the opinion of the medical staff here, that you won't be able to skate in any more competitions. You may be able to coach or skate recreational purposes, but your knee is too damaged for it to take the stresses of skating professionally and competitively."

Buffy gasped and felt tears begin to gather behind her eyes. "Are you sure? I mean, you could be wrong, right? I've heard about people who were told they'd never walk again, and live completely normal lives now. Lives that involve walking and running. Isn't there a chance that I could go professional again?"

"There's a chance, yes. But in your case, I don't think that it will ever happen. The tendons are too badly damaged, and they won't heal properly because of the way they tore and how we had to piece them back together. I think it would be best for you to accept the fact that skating is out, and concentrate on simply being able to walk again. That would be in your best interest."

Buffy hung her head for a moment, then looked up at the doctors. "Would you please send for my stepfather and my boyfriend? I would like to see them, and whoever else is in the waiting room now."

"You need to rest."

"I DO NOT NEED TO REST! I NEED TO SEE MY FAMILY! GOT IT?" Buffy yelled. Everyone in the waiting room heard her and burst out laughing.

"That's my girl." Giles said proudly. Angel smiled and walked over to the nurses' station. 

"Excuse me, seeing as how Buffy seems to want all of us to join her in her room, can we go back and see her? Only for a minute or so."

The nurse seemed to think heavily for a minute. "Okay. But be quiet and don't upset her. She has a serious head injury, and we don't want to put any unnecessary stress on her."

"Thank you. Umm, guys? We can go back."

Giles led the way, Joyce close behind, and Angel not far behind her. Xander, Cordelia, Willow, and Wesley followed. Drs. Williams and Southerland looked surprised to see all of them and tried to block their paths. Giles simply shouldered them out of the way and walked into Buffy's room with the rest of the party in tow. Buffy sat up as they walked in and managed a small smile.

"I was wondering when you'd ask for us." Giles teased, leaning down to hug her and kiss her forehead. Buffy giggled.

"They wouldn't listen to me, and seeing you guys wasn't an unreasonable request."

"Honey, are you all right? Do you need anything? What did the doctor tell you? How do you feel? When are they going to let me take you home?"

"Fine, no, I won't ever skate again, sore and awful, and I don't know."

Joyce, too, gave Buffy a hug and kissed her forehead before moving aside to let Angel take her place. "Hey. I won't bother asking how you feel, because I already know the answer." He said, kissing her lightly on the lips.

"Better already." Buffy whispered so only he could hear her. "How long was I out?"

"About twelve hours. We were in that waiting room a long time." Cordelia complained, examining a fingernail. Wesley elbowed her. "But we didn't mind. Your health and life is much more important than our comfort." She said, then added in a low voice to her boyfriend, "Was that okay?"

Wesley simply nodded, and also moved in to hug Buffy. "And don't worry about dealing with those doctors. I'll have you on your feet in no time. My clinic in New York is open, and we can work on rehab every day just as soon as you feel like it." He assured her.

"I love you Wesley. It's such a good thing you're a doctor. I was worried about PT here. I don't like the doctors very much. They seem to be stuck up and more intent on not telling me what's wrong, then helping me fix what's wrong. You know what I mean?"

Angel nodded. "I think we've all been there at one point or another. And remember, they told you that you wouldn't skate professionally after you got shot and you won an Olympic gold since then."

Buffy looked at everyone in the room with steel in her eyes. "I swear to you all, I will beat this. With God as my witness I will skate in another Olympics. And by God I will get another gold."

Well, what did you think? This is an unusually short chapter for me, but I just wanted to prove that I do update my stories, and two in one week should do that. So, review, review, review! 


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